MR. JUSTIN HUNTLY M'CARTHYasked the President of the Local Government Board, Why the fee charged for auditing the public accounts of the borough of Athlone amounts to so large a sum as £12 per annum, considering that the auditor merely spends one day in the year at the work?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN(who replied) said: The charge for this audit in 1873 and 1874 was £10 10s., four days being returned as the time occupied in the audit. In 1875, in consequence of the appointment of an additional Auditor, the assessment had to be raised, and the charge on Athlone became £12 5s., which was altered to £12 in 1877, and has so continued since. There has been no application for a reduction until this month, when the Local Government Board stated, in reply to a letter from the Town Clerk on the subject, that they would bear the case of Athlone in mind when the next assessment is made.